Richard lights up for 41 in Liepaja's OT win

21.10.2015, Povilas Baranauskas, BBL.net

LIEPAJA – It was all drama in Liepaja, as the outing between local Liepaja/Triobet and Barsy Atyrau required 45 minutes of basketball to decide the victors. The home side eventually triumphed 86-79 and recorded their second victory.

It didn't seem to be a high scoring affair early on, as the teams combined for merely 20 points in the first quarter, with Barsy leading 13-7, yet it turned around from then on.

The Kazakhs continued their solid play and midway through the quarter were already up by twelve. It was only Richard’s efforts keeping Liepaja/Triobet in the game, as the American scored 14 points in the second quarter alone.

For the lion’s share of the third quarter it was a neck-to-neck game, yet Bryan Harrison hit two long-range shots in the last minute to give the visitors a six-point advantage before the final segment.

With three minutes remaining, Barsy were still ahead by 7 points, but a series of free-throws quickly wiped the lead away. The two sides exchanged missed shots in the final ten seconds of regulation and it would all be decided by overtime.

Liepaja/Triobet were the more accurate and composed side in the five extra minutes and sealed the victory with a three-pointer from Janis Antrops to push the lead to seven.

Most of the credits for the victory should go to Kristopher Richard, who was absolutely on fire, hitting 14-of-20 from the field and 11-of-11 from the charity stripe for an outrageous 41 points. He also swiped for 6 steals and tore down 4 rebounds.

Janis Antrops added 15 points and 6 assists, while Toms Leimanis finished the game with 11 points in his account.

Five players were in double digits for the losing side, as Michael Burwell and Mikhail Yevstigneev scored 17 apiece, as the latter also added 7 rebounds to the tally. Bryan Harrison had 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, while Ryan Cook ended the game with 13 points and 9 boards in his tab. Dmitriy Klimov scored 10.